#because mine isn't based off of that challenge

[maddieplum]

Floral Legacy Challenge

So a while back my computer died and I lost all of my saves and screenshots and because of that I haven't wanted to play in a while. However, recently to get myself back into the game I wrote a legacy challenge for myself based upon flower meanings. I have started playing it and really been enjoying it, so wanted to share with anyone who might be interested as well!

This is more of a story based legacy than a challenge one, with goals written more as guidelines for what story to tell in a given generation than objectives or challenges to complete. Each generation I have chosen 1-3 aspects of a flower's meaning to focus this story around and I've compiled them in a way where I think it makes sense how one generation leads to the next.

If you are interested, more is under the cut!

Sims 4 Floral Legacy Challenge:

Some housekeeping: As far as general rules go, make this your own! Traditional legacy rules need not apply unless you want them to. This is for my personal gameplay and if you want to do it, choose what rules you want to hold yourself to that will make the gameplay fun for you. I tend to use cheats in ways that make sense from a storytelling perspective (e.g. for the iris gen I will likely cheat to give a coworker the genius trait). You can also opt not to follow any of my generation guidelines if you don't want - just take what interests you!

The only required packs are Horse Ranch, Spa Day, and City Living, but I added optional and recommended goals incorporating packs I either already have or hope to buy. If you don't have the required packs you can still definitely play this by either skipping those gens or modifying them to fit what you can do. I would recommend using the generation theme written under the flower name to help guide you in your choices as well (these are the aspects of the flower meanings that I have chosen to focus on for each given generation).

And without further ado:

Gen 1: Bluebell -humble beginnings and everlasting love- Choose one of more of these traits: generous, good, loyal Career: something that means humility to you - ideas: education, gardener, barista/babysitter/other part time careers, self employed by selling collectibles Aspiration: Soulmate Style: any, but live whole life in a small home (not necessarily by the game's standard but no more than 3 bedrooms), blue should be a main color, stay away from pricey furniture as well

You are a simple sort of sim. All you ever wanted is a place to call home and someone to love. Moving to a new place was scary, but you think you are starting to figure it out. However, things get a little more complicated when a choice you make on a lonely night results in a surprise pregnancy. Even though you aren't sure you're ready for single parenthood, you are going to give it your best shot, you already love the kid to bits after all. Luckily, your kind neighbor is there to help out. Wait, they're kind of cute…

-Start on an empty lot or in an unfurnished house with 0 simoleons -Recommended: live in willow creek -Make money to build/furnish your house through your career -Have a child from a one night stand with someone you meet at a public lot before your house is fully finished (this is the next gen heir). -Never date your child's other parent but optionally remain good friends. -Err on the side of leniency as a parent (e.g. if you have parenthood, hug it out to discipline your kid, use the permissive family dynamic from growing together). -Fall and love and get married to one of your neighbors, completing the soulmate aspiration. Stay together in a happy marriage until death. -Optional: have 1-2 more kids with your spouse -Until you switch to the next gen, go on at least one date every week with your spouse.

Gen 2: Crocus -playful childishness- Recommended Traits: lazy, goofball, outgoing, family oriented, childish, cheerful Career: any except entertainer - do not reach level 10 in your career, continually neglect work tasks and goof off/socialize at work to lower work performance if need be - optional (or if laid off): switch careers several times Aspiration: Big happy family - optional: if you have high school years you can complete the live fast aspiration as a teen Style: any as long as its casual, shouldn't look too put together, t-shirts would be good

As a kid you were loved and admittedly somewhat spoiled by your doting parent. At times you neglected your responsibilities and your homework preferring to goof off with your many friends. Growing up… well, you never really did that did you? You did eventually get a job (even though you aren't the best employee) and you gave dating the old college try as well. Unfortunately, just like working, being in a relationship doesn't seem to come easily to you… Luckily though there is something you're good at: parenting. Being part kid yourself, you find it easy to connect to your many kids and you're always ready to cheer them up with a laugh when they are feeling down. That, at least, is something worth devoting your time too.

-Neglect homework as a child (optional: age up with the irresponsible trait if you have parenthood) but have several friends at school -Perform poorly in a career of your choice (NOT entertainer) - do not reach level 10 in any career (if you get close, lower job performance or quit and start a new job) -Live in childhood home until parents die or until you have too many kids for everyone to fit -Get divorced from / break up with every partner you have (your choice how many people to date, but must die single) -Have 3-6 kids - at least one should be adopted and one should be biologically yours but the exact ratio is up to you -Be best friends level with all kids -max out comedy skill -Complete happy family aspiration (may require temporarily returning to this gen after some kids are adults) -Optional: whenever someone leaves the household, get a pet so the household is continually at 8 members (the idea of this gen is cheerful chaos after all)

Gen 3: Dahlia -creativity and true love- Required traits: non commital, Recommended: creative, maker, art lover, green fiend Career: Something creative - recommended: making money through painting or fabrication or photography Aspiration: Any in the creativity category (or the jewelry one, which is IMO creative but not in that category) Style: Colorful and eclectic, feature warm colors and travel Knick knacks, bohemian

You grew up in a chaotic but joyful home surrounded by your siblings and raised by a parent who loved and accepted you as you were. Your creativity was able to bloom and flourish in this environment and you learned the value and power of familial love. However, you never quite understood romance in the same way as you watched your parent struggle to maintain a loving relationship. In high school you found someone special, but your relationship was too important to put through the trials of romance. You maintained your friendship into adulthood as you followed your passions into a career and your heart into several (failed) relationships, all the while standing by each other. Then one day you realized, what if this elusive goal of romantic love had been right besides you all along?

-Complete the creatively gifted aspiration as a kid -Briefly (briefly) date your best friend in high school, then decide to be just friends (option in social menu). Maintain friendship (remaining just friends) into your young adulthood and adulthood, spending lots of time together. -Have a creative job and max out your career / chosen creative skill -Get married and divorced at least once and date and break up with at least 3 people total -Have at least one kid -After a midlife crisis start a relationship with your best friend and get married - this time stay together until death do us part (optional: at this point swap out the non committal trait with the loyal trait via cheats or self discovery moment) -Go on vacation at least twice with your family and your best friend/best friend's family

Gen 4: (white) Lily -beauty, mourning, and rebirth- Recommended traits: gloomy, romantic Career: something you associate with beauty - ideas: actor/actress, style influencer, social media Aspiration: any - ideas: soulmate, world famous celebrity, master actor/actress Style: classic, somewhat minimalistic, elegant (think Kennedys)

Growing up in an artistic household, you quickly developed a keen eye and a strong aesthetic and sense of style. Unlike your parent however, you were very interested in what was popular. You built your knowledge of trends and used it to cultivate your own look until it became your passion, and ultimately your career. You were becoming quite successful, loving your job more and more every day, when you met… them. The love of your life. You remembered watching your parent dance around their love all their life, and had seen how much time they wasted because of it. You weren't going to make the same mistake. You had a whirlwind romance, engagement, and marriage that grew into a stable, enduring love. You had everything, a great career, a wonderful relationship, and you and your spouse had just welcomed a child when tragedy struck. And now, without your love, you don't know what to do. How will you go on?

-Enter and max out a career that is associated with beauty -Optional: if you have get famous, become a celebrity with a good reputation -Meet your spouse through your career -Date, get engaged to, and marry your spouse quickly (within 1-2 sim weeks) -Have a relationship with your spouse at the soulmate level -Have exactly one kid with your spouse -Before your kid is a teen, your spouse dies -Mourn your spouse for the rest of your life (at least 3 times weekly visit grave/urn) and never get into another romantic relationship -Optional: after spouse's death, change outfits to be all black for mourning colors (or what ever mourning colors are in your culture) -Neglect child emotionally because of your sadness (less than good friends level friendship) -Repair relationship with child after they move out and your grandchildren are born (they return the spark to your life)

Gen 5: Dandelion -resilience and recovery- Required trait: horse lover Optional: active, loves the outdoors, adventurous Career: Rancher/self employed Required aspiration: championship rider Style: western, rustic farmhouse decor, country

You grew up in the midst of a tragedy. All you remember is the dark cloud that seemed to surround your parent everywhere they went and the loneliness that came from all but raising yourself. As soon as you could, you got away, following your heart to the countryside. In the picturesque small town of chestnut ridge you built your own life, learning to ride the horses you had grown up loving, and making a living by building a ranch. The solitude of nature was like a balm to your wounded soul. Eventually, you fell for one of the locals and got hitched. They moved in to help grow your ranch and before long you were building a family as well. As you discovered the joys of parenthood, it brought your mind back to your own parent, and you started to wonder if those bonds could be reformed…

-move out to Chestnut Ridge as soon as you become a young adult -Complete the championship rider aspiration and max out the riding skill -Fall in love with an marry a sim you meet in Chestnut ridge with the rancher trait -Have 2-4 kids with your spouse -Optional: name one of your kids after your deceased parent -After your first kid is a toddler, start to reconcile with your parent (inviting them over to meet grandkids) -build back your friendship with your parent before they pass (good friends level or higher) -run a thriving ranch

Gen 6: (red) Carnation -justice- Recommended traits: good, hot headed, self assured Career: Politics, charity organizer branch Aspiration: any - ideas: neighborhood confident, city native Style: any - alt fashion would work well, esp. punk, dark colors with red accents also good

Life as a child in the countryside was idyllic, but you always had bigger dreams. Bright eyed and with a zest for life you moved to the city as soon as you could. But once there, your idealistic nature quickly shattered. The world wasn't as nice outside of your small town bubble. Rather than fall into despair over it however, you decided to rise to the occasion. You would dedicate your life to fighting for change and making the world a better place. Even if it was just a drop in the bucket, you would do everything you could to make a difference. After all, what better way to spend your time than speaking truth to power?

-move to San Myshuno as a young adult -Join and max out the charity organizer career -meet your spouse at a protest -fall in love and move in together, but don't get married -have at least one kid -join or start a protest at least once a week -have at least one wealthy enemy (bonus points if they are in the politician career or a landlord) -Optionally: have a midlife crisis / burnout (via growing together mechanics or imaginative storytelling) during adulthood and change your life around (stay in same career, but protest less and pick up a hobby, spend more time with family)

Gen 7: Iris -intelligence and prestige- Required trait: genius Optional traits: perfectionist, ambitious, neat, overachiever, loner, hates children, bookworm Career: something you associate with intelligence - ideas: doctor, scientist, law, engineer, astronaut Recommended aspiration: any in the knowledge group or bestselling author Optional: complete the goal oriented aspiration as a teen and the academic aspiration as a young adult Style: academia (dark or light), traditional, have at least one library / study in the home

Your parents were smart people, you'll give them that, but they didn't care enough to do anything with it! They could have been something great, but instead they decided to waste their time fighting for 'justice' without making any real change. You wouldn't be making that mistake. From an early age you dedicated yourself to your studies, determined to learn everything you possibly could and become someone important. Learning fascinated you, and you loved using your intelligence to figure out solutions to hard problems. This was what was important, not love, or family, or doing good, or whatever other nonsense your parents and grandparents believed. This was how you really changed the world, intelligently. Now just to get that one coworker of yours to stop pestering you at work and challenging your ideas. Wait, why do they want to meet you for coffee?

-Complete the mental aspiration as a child -Enter and max out a career related to intelligence - optionally: then switch careers and max out a second -max out at least four skills of your choice, writing and publishing skill books related to them as you do so (this may require you to max out the writing skill, if so this counts towards your four skills) -Date and marry one of your coworkers who also has the genius trait (bonus points if this is a former workplace rival) -Have exactly one child with your spouse via the science baby option -Be a strict parent (maintain this family dynamic if you have growing together) and be emotionally distant from your kid (less than good friends friendship level ideally) -If you have discover university, attend university and complete the academic aspiration before beginning a career

Gen 8: Lotus -rebirth and self-love- Required trait: high maintenance Recommended: perfectionist Career: start in something you see as a high stress job - ideas: salary person, business, anything that uses the logic skill - then switch to making money via spa day activities Aspiration: any or all in the wellness category Style: minimalist, biophilic (plant parent), 'zen'

To say your parents had high expectations growing up would be putting it lightly. Nothing you ever did seemed good enough for them. Even so, you continued to try, pushing yourself towards excellent grades and into a career (and relationship) they would approve of. It was hard but you were managing it, and you kept pushing and pushing until… One day you just couldn't do it anymore! You quit your job, ended your relationship and changed trajectories. Now you are focused on healing and self-love, and on helping others on their self love journey as well. It might take some time, but you are learning to be happy with yourself. Next, to start building a new family, one you'll be happy to be a part of.

-maintain an "A" level grade throughout your education -Enter a high stress career as a young adult -Start a relationship with someone in a 'respectable' career as a young adult (you decide what counts as 'respectable') - if you have growing together you should have bad compatibility with this person -sometime during young adulthood (bonus if after in game burnout) while your sim is feeling badly (tense, angry, uncomfortable, or sad), quit your job and end your relationship -Optional: before this switch dress and decorate in your parents style, afterwards, change to your own style -Switch to a wellness career - continue this until retirement -max out wellness skill -complete at least one of the wellness aspirations -marry someone you meet at the spa -have 1-3 children with them

Gen 9: Lavender -family and home- Required trait - at least one of three: loner, paranoid, socially awkward Recommended traits: family oriented, foodie, loves the outdoors, animal enthusiast Career: make money through cooking and/or baking - this can involve running a bakery, the culinary career, or using the food stall from home chef hustle OR be a stay at home parent and partner makes money Choose one or more of the following aspirations: Appliance whiz, master chef, country caretaker, super parent Style: French country, cottage core, pastels

You grew up in a peaceful and tranquil home with caring and kind parents. Lucky for you because as it turns out - the rest of the world? Not so peaceful. Being outside your home and surrounded by strangers was always stressful for you, and as you grew up you learned to retreat towards the things you knew: your family, your pets, and the delicious things you loved to cook. Another support for you was always your best friend turned love; you've promised to stay by each other's side through thick and thin and you can’t wait to build a home together. Will these supports help you get through the stresses of adulthood? Will be able to find and build a home that's peaceful and safe for your new family? Only time will tell…

-From teenagehood to death have at least one pet at all times (including non household animals like cows) -Marry your childhood best friend / high school sweetheart and stay together until death do us part -max out the cooking skill (and baking if you have get to work) -have 3-5 kids with your spouse -maintain best friends level friendship with all kids, spouse, and any cats or dogs you have -don't maintain friendships with anyone outside the household (this can change when you switch to playing sunflower gen if need be) -make sacked lunches for all family members at least twice a week -Make money through food (chef career, bakery, or food stall) OR be a stay at home parent -Recommended: live in Henford-on-Bagley -Max out one or more of the following aspirations: Appliance whiz, master chef, country caretaker, super parent

Gen 10: Sunflower -friendship and loyalty- Required trait: loyal and choose at least one of: cheerful, outgoing, generous Career: any Aspiration: one or more in the social category Optional: Additionally complete successful lineage or big happy family and continue gameplay Style: any - home with lots of space for hosting gatherings, yellow as a focus color would be a good choice

You had a pretty perfect childhood - supportive parents, siblings to play with, space to roam, the whole nine yards. Only… it was still a little lonely. There's a whole world out there, and as much as you love your parents, they didn't really expose you to it, preferring to stay home. Well, you're grown up now, and you are going to bring the world to your family and your family out into the world. There's so many cool people out there and you are going to be friends with them all.

-Complete the social aspiration as a child -Maintain a group of friends (use club system if you have get together) your whole life, adding members as you age and make more friends -maintain good friends level friendship with all club members -Fall in love with and marry someone with the family oriented trait -have at least two kids -take at least one family vacation -maintain friendship levels with all family members (siblings, parents, spouse, kids) at at least the good friend level -host family and friend gatherings frequently - if you have growing together: have a family reunion at least every 4 sim weeks - if you have seasons: host gatherings for every relevant holiday (e.g. no gathering needed for lottery day or love day, but harvestfest yes) -Optional: have one parent die as an elder and move the other in to live with you and your family, take care of them until they die -Optional: have a pet dog all your adulthood -Recommended: complete an aspiration in the family category as well (successful lineage or big happy family) - this will require continuing to play a bit beyond the 10th generation

[your-highnessmarvel]

Tommy's Girl

Requested by @bunnyanon: Hey, I would like to request a jealous Tom Hiddleston x y/n fic based on Jesse’s girl but by the end is with Tom. -🐇

AN: I REALLY HOPE that this was with the song rick springfield lMAO or else well, this is awkward.

Warnings: None, just some cute Tom pining after youuuuu

*gif not mine

Enjoyed this and want more? Send in your requests!

MASTERLIST

Tom watches you for a while before he understands that he likes you.

"So then, if you think I'm bullshitting, you have to yell it before the next person plays," you say.

"Of course," he answers.

"And then, if i'm not bullshitting, you have to pick up the entire stack!" you continue.

Here he is, pretending he doesn't know how to play bullshit. Because he has a massive crush on you.

You. One of his mate's brother's girl.

"Say that again," he says, pretending to be confused, leaning over the table as if he can't hear you over the noise of his friends around.

You proudly tell him the rules again, and this close, he can smell your intoxicating perfume.

He loves the way your eyes challenge him when he calls bullshit on you. He loves the way you laugh, squint your eyes, mouth stretched over your teeth. You're so careless, so clueless that he can't help but stare.

God, he wished you were his girl.

Every time your boyfriend would come to the table and kiss you on the cheek, Tom had to rip his eyes from the sight. Every touch, every inside joke, every whispered word - you should be sharing that with him.

But tom was a gallant man.

"Again, y/n!" he says, loudly, taking your attention away from your boyfriend.

You happily play along.

And every other time Tom and his mates hang, you're there, playing bullshit with Tom.

And every birthday party, every celebration, every holiday season - he wishes he had you.

And every wedding invite he opens in the mail, he begs the holy father above that it isn't yours.

Until his mate has a house party to celebrate his new promotion. And you're not there. But Tom's mate's brother is... without you. Your boyfriend, here, without you.

Tom has to be slick about this. Because he wants you so badly that he would rather cut his toes off than risk making any mistakes that jeopardizes his chances with you.

So he asks his mate with your boyfriend seems off. He tells Tom not to worry about it.

He tries to talk to that girl you hang with but there's no opening to bring you up.

So he calls his agent, gives him your name, and tells him he needs to return something to you. Just a phone number would do.

As soon as he gets the digits, he escapes the house and texts you.

where are you? -tom

where where?

Hilarious.

at Jason's.

Oh... me and my boyfriend broke up. i'm sorry, but i won't be coming back for another game of bullshit

Tom takes a second, relishing in that weird jealous feeling that was suddenly not a heavy weighted blanket over his shoulders.

please. can i see you?

You reply almost instantly.

yes

You weren't his girl by the end of that night, no. But Tom had admitted his feelings and given you the space you needed to heal. And by the next time an invite to his next movie's red carpet came in Tom's mail, he was happy to put your name down under his plus one.

[cod-dump]

Really cute / sad thing ( mostly sad ), but..

Ghost has a ring. A ring in order to purpose to Soap. A ring he's owned for 1 year because here's the catch, he's scared that Soap isn't ready yet.

Back when he bought the ring, Ghost wasn't scared, in fact confident. They've been dating for (insert how many years you think) so what's the worse that could happen? Nothing, that's what he thought anyway.

As the ring sat comfortably in his pocket, he'd been thinking. Thinking about the fact that he didn't know if Soap was ready ( Which he was, both of them were ready to get married, it's just our bbg Ghost is an overthinker, at least I like to think so )

So just as he was going to do it, he didn't. He put it away and never took it out.

Years passed and every time he's thought about proposing, he doesn't.

He's ready too get married, he just doesn't know if Soap is, and he doesn't want it to ruin their relationship

Price has been trying too help him but the man just won't do it even he if he wants to. ( + Price understands were Ghost is coming from, so he's patient with him ).

" Just giving it a couple more months. " That's what he would say every time anybody has asked if he's gonna purpose.

( Though I'd share since well, I kinda like this one. Though this definitely could go either way for whoever is the scared one with the ring. Depends on the persons POV and opinions lol )

OHOHOH I LOVE THIS

___

Wear This Ring And Be Truly Mine

SoapGhost fic

___

Throughout the years, Simon Riley, the Ghost, has never admitted to being afraid. He faces whatever challenge that he meets head on and refuses to back down. But this was a challenge he wasn’t prepared to face: Proposing to the love of his life.

There were two possible outcomes to this: Either he said yes and they went off and lived happily ever after, or he said no and Ghost would have no choice but to crawl in a hole and never come back out.

Ghost, at first, was confident that Soap would say yes to his proposal after being together for five years. They shared a room on base, owned a flat, it had become the norm to see Soap walk around in Ghost’s hoodie with “Lieutenant Riley” printed on it. They were almost always attached at the hip, and when they were apart someone always asked “Where’s the rest of you?”.

Ghost was constantly reminded that Soap loved him as much as Ghost loved him. One mission Ghost was gone for a month. When he came back Soap practically pounced on him the moment he saw him and refused to leave him alone for a straight week.

Ghost knew that he was loved. That’s what led him to getting the ring. It was sterling silver with a gold accent. It was beautiful and simple. Something that he knew Soap would love. He, for once, was so excited about it that he had to tell someone. So he told Price. He showed him the ring and didn’t have to say anything to explain what it was. Price lit up instantly.

“It’s about damn time!”

Ghost never had an actual relationship with his dad. Not one that mattered, at least. Price stepped into that role and his approval of this made Ghost’s heart almost burst. Price gave them both three days leave so he could propose and them enjoy each other and fantasize about their future. So Ghost took Soap out to eat. It wasn’t a fancy restaurant, just their favorite pub.

After they ate they went to the park nearby. With the moon shining overhead, the glow complimenting Soap’s handsome face— Ghost thought about sealing their fates together. About finally committing and binding themselves to one another until their time came.

He would be stuck with you. Won’t be able to get away as easy.

The thought sent a guilt through Ghost, seeded a doubt that he couldn’t shake. His hand was in his pocket, hovering over the ring that suddenly burned to touch.

“Something wrong, Si?”

Ghost shook his head, “No, just thinking.”

He was supposed to propose at the park, but he didn’t. He just walked them back to base. Later that night as Soap was fast asleep in their bed, Ghost stared at the ring. Part of him wanted Soap to wake up and see it so he couldn’t push off the question again. But Soap remained asleep, oblivious to Ghost’s dilemma.

Hours would pass before Ghost finally hides the ring and lays down, but sleep refused to come to him. By the time his alarm rang he was exhausted and anxious. Soap woke, rolling over and giving Ghost a sleepy good morning kiss before getting up. Soap ran on autopilot for at least an hour after waking up so Ghost wasn’t surprised he didn’t notice how dead tired his boyfriend was.

Ghost tried to make himself seem more awake and managed to convince Soap enough that he was fine just tired before they separated and went about their day. He wore his usual balaclava minus the face paint so the bags under his eyes weren’t hidden. He was slow all day, more snappy according to some. Price ran into him and pulled him to the side to ask about the previous night.

“Soap hasn’t said anything about you proposing…”

“I didn’t ask him.”

“Why not? You were so eager about it yesterday!”

Ghost breathes in, “Just… couldn’t bare the thought of him saying no.”

“Son, Soap wouldn’t say no. You are the love of his life. You do know that you’re labeled as ‘soulmate’ in his phone, right?”

Ghost nods and Price sighs.

“I understand being nervous. Marriage is a big commitment. But you and Soap are ready for it. You two act like you’re married already!”

Ghost laughs quietly at that. Price gives him a worried smile.

“You propose when you’re ready. Soap’s definitely not going anywhere. He loves you too much to just leave.”

That should’ve settled Ghost’s nerves. That should’ve been the end of his doubt. But he just kept thinking about Soap saying no. They’ve talked about marriage before but that was years ago. He wasn’t sure how to bring it up without making it obvious about him wanting to propose. He wasn’t sure what was worse: Rejection after a proposal or being rejected before he even got the chance.

Ghost took a breath, trying to ease his running thoughts.

I’ll ask in a couple months. I’ll be ready then.

Two months from that day, Ghost was not ready. In fact when he saw the ring after opening his nightstand drawer to grab something panic shot through him. There was no dead line to propose. Yet he felt like there was one. One that he couldn’t see and if it reached to that point something was going to happen. He wasn’t sure what exactly but he just had a gut feeling.

He wanted to ask someone about marriage. Price was married years ago and it ended in divorce so he wasn’t sure he would be the one to go to. He wasn’t actually sure if Rudy and Alejandro were married and he was not about to be laughed at for assuming. So that left one last option.

“Sorry to bother you. I know it’s late there.”

It was five in the morning at the moment, but it was around twelve in the morning for Laswell. When he sent the video call request he didn’t expect her to pick up but she did.

“Simon, you never bother me. You’re my unproblematic child.”

Ghost snorts as Laswell grins at him on his screen.

“Why did you call me? Must be something serious.”

“Yea, it is. I… I want to ask Soap to marry me.”

Laswell squealed. Squealed. The absolute glee on her face and in her eyes made Ghost smile.

“Finally! The first of my children to get married! Can I see the ring?”

Ghost pulls out the ring and holds it up to the camera to show her. Laswell smiles widely at it.

“It’s beautiful! I know Soap will never take it off the moment you put it on him.”

Ghost stops smiling and clears his throat, “I want to ask him but-“

He trails off and Laswell frowns, “But-?”

“We talked about marriage like once years ago. I-I don’t want to rush things. I don’t know if he even wants marriage or is ready.”

“Sweetie, Soap is absolutely in love with you. There is no doubt that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you.”

Ghost nods but Laswell continues.

“Marriage is scary. I won’t lie to you. It’s a huge commitment on both partner’s parts. I was so scared about asking my Annie to marry me.”

Laswell looks off camera before looking back at Ghost, “She was and still is the most beautiful and wonderful woman in my life. She could have anyone and yet she was with me.”

“What made you finally ask her?”

“I kept the ring in my pocket for four straight months. One evening, we were in the kitchen. We were cooking dinner, dancing to music as we did. In that moment when I saw her smile, dancing with a laugh, the stains from cooking our food on her shirt— I knew that there was no other person I would want to be with.”

Laswell smiles as a woman walks into the camera’s view and hugs her from behind, “I proposed to her right there.”

Annie smiles, “Flour on her cheek, a beautiful green sapphire ring, and a look of pure love. How could I say no?”

Annie smiles at Ghost, “Honey, it’s okay to be worried. But I know he’ll say yes. Don’t push it. The moment will come when it’s ready.”

Ghost nods and Annie kisses Laswell’s cheek before leaving. Laswell watches her wife leave before turning back to Ghost.

“Take your time, sweetie. And I look forward to our mother-son dance.”

Ghost felt confident after that. So after a couple of days he planned to propose. Again. He tried to stay around Soap all day, hoping that the magical moment that happened to Laswell before she proposed would come to him. It didn’t. He was with Soap practically all day and not once did he get that feeling to commit and propose. Soap never questioned why he was with him, just gave him occasional kisses on his cheek or made a silly face at him when their eyes met.

Ghost was so frustrated! Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months—

And then a year rolled around. A fucking year he has had the ring in his pocket. A year he’s been trying to encourage himself to propose to Soap. He would get an occasional glance from Price but the man didn’t say anything. Laswell was checking up on him more than usual, not directly asking but he knew what she wanted to know. He felt like he was disappointing them and it was killing him!

One evening he stormed off out of the pub they were in celebrating New Year’s Eve. A couple was together and Ghost didn’t really pay them any mind until the girl went to the bathroom. The guy took out a ring and took a deep breath before putting it away. Ghost couldn’t watch and just left in a rush, telling no one where he was going. He was just upset, fumbling with the ring in his pocket as he walked. He felt a tear in the corner of his eye.

Why was this so fucking hard? He knew he loved Soap and he knew Soap loved him! Why couldn’t he just ask him a simple question? He’s faced certain death! Crawled out of a grave with another man’s jaw bone, killed countless in battle. Why can’t he just ask the man he loves to marry him?

“Simon!”

Ghost stops as Soap jogs up to him, “Babe, are you okay? You just left without a word.”

“Fine, Johnny.”

“You don’t sound fine, baby. C’mon, you know you can talk to me.”

Ghost shakes before turning around, “I know! That’s why this is so fucking stupid!”

Soap’s face twists in confusion, “What-?”

“I know I can talk to you about anything! I know that you’ll always be there for me, through thick and thin! Rain or shine!”

Ghost feels tears slip down his face, Soap concerned, “Why can’t I just ask you to marry me?”

Soap blinks and it takes Ghost a moment to register what he said. He pales, breath caught in his throat as Soap and him stare at each other.

“What-What did you just say?”

“I-I—“

Soap takes a deep breath, gently taking Ghost’s hand, “Love… what did you just say?”

Ghost shakes horribly, “Why can’t I just ask you to marry me?”

Tears collect at the corners of Soap’s eyes, “Say that again, baby.”

Ghost exhales before taking one of his hands out of Soap’s hold and digging into his pocket. He pulls out the ring and holds in up, hands shaking.

“Johnny… Will you marry me?”

Soap laughs out, tears falling freely down his face, “Yes!”

Ghost chokes out a sob as he puts the ring on Soap. Once its on Soap looks at it before jumping onto Ghost, wrapping his arms around his neck. Ghost wraps one arm around Soap while he removes his face mask and kisses Soap. Soap kisses him like it would be their last, refusing to pull away. But they eventually do, Soap pulling away to cup Ghost’s face with the biggest smile on his face.

Someone clears their throat and they look to see Gaz and Price standing there.

“That was a very dramatic New Year’s kiss.”

Price quickly saw the shine on Soap’s finger and his eyes lit up.

“FINALLY!”

Gaz jerks at the yell as Soap and Ghost laugh. A very dramatic way to start the New Year, indeed.

[outsideratheart]

Too Much Teasing (Mapi Leon x reader)

A/N: You guys voted for the Mapi fic so here it is. I hope you like it!

Based off this request.

Life worked in mysterious ways and the past couple of years proved that. In a shock transfer you left Arsenal, your childhood club and the team that brought you up through the academy, for Barcelona.

The Spanish game came very easy to you but life off the pitch was more of a challenge. You are naturally a guarded person but there was one girl that managed to knock down your walls within the first few weeks. You and Mapi bonded over your shared love of tattoos, art and late night walks around the city.

You would see each other everyday which made being back in England for the Euros that much harder. Due the Barcelona's schedule you left for camp the morning after the Copa De La Reina final and you wouldn't be returning to Spain till August, should the tournament end with the Lionesses lifting the trophy.

But the thing about playing in Spain is that it sometimes felt like you lived two lives. For example, your England team mates had no clue you were dating the Zaragoza native. You were planning on telling them during the Arnold Cup but it was your first tournament as Captain and Mapi wanted you to focus. You were keeping the most important thing in your life from some of the most important people in your life.

You missed your girlfriend dearly and whilst you wanted nothing more than to drive to Marlow to see Mapi on your days off you know you couldn't so you settled for phone calls, more specifically late night phone calls. You walk aimlessly around the Teddington compound talking to Mapi about everything and anything. The sound of your girlfriend's voice had the power to distract you from the pressure that came with being the home favourites.

"Te quiero mucho baby"

You end the phone call and try your best to enter your room quietly as not to wake up your room mates.

"I take it i'll meet your secret girlfriend when I come to Barcelona?"

Lucy's voice makes you jump in your spot. Like every other night, you expected her to be asleep. You decide to ignore her question, choosing instead to get ready for bed but the defender continues her questioning whilst you’re in the bathroom.

"Will I meet her over dinner or at a team meeting?"

"Team meeting. Now no more questions" you warn her but she doesn't care.

"Am I going to be playing against her on Thursday?"

You freeze. Yes you were aware that England would be playing Spain in the quarter finals but what didn't register is that you are going to be playing against, and possibly beating, some of your closest friends.

"No way! You're dating Alexia!"

"What? No"

"It's just that you didn't answer"

"Because i've just realised that the next game we play will destroy mine and your team mates dreams of winning the euros"

"I thought you knew that. Isn't that the reason why you have been sad when you don't think people are watching?"

"I miss her a lot. This is longest we have been apart in a while and i'm finding it hard not being around her" You felt lighter having said out loud what you have been feeling for the last week.

You really wished that you could see Mapi before you play each other in Brighton. The fact that you wouldn't led to you being in a sour mood the next morning and it seemed to give the some of the players the perfect opportunity to make your mood worse.

"Hello grumpy, did somebody not get enough sleep?" Meado pokes your cheek as she sits down next to you.

"What can I say, Lucy snores like a pig" you know it wasn't your best work but hopefully it would change the direction of the teasing.

"No I don't!" Lucy argues "your grumpiness has nothing to do with me, it's because you miss your girlfriend"

"LUCY!" you glare at her from across the table.

"What?" the defender is no where near awake enough to realise what she has just said.

"Y/N has a girlfriend" Ella sings

"Who?"

"Is she english?"

"No she'll be Spanish"

"Is she hot?”

"Of course she is, look at Y/N" Alessia casually says.

"Lessi, you think i'm hot?" you ask the blonde knowing that she will get embarrassed.

"What, no" her response earns a scoff from you "no, I didn't mean that. I mean that you are, well you're you, we all see the way the fans obsess over you and some even flirt with you even though you don't back which I think is strange"

"It's because she has a girlfriend" Georgia turns the attention back to you.

This time instead of them asking questions they start guessing who it could be. They name the entire Spanish national team as well as the more known players in the league. Hempo is the one that guesses correctly but no way are you letting her know that.

In the end you walk away from the table, not that any of them have realised. Their attention was now on the non Spanish players playing in Spain. You make yourself another cup of coffee hoping that it will do one of two things, wake you up and ease the interrogation that you will be returning to.

"Y/N"

"What!" you snap.

When you turn around you are met with Ellen who has your phone.

"Your phone kept going off" The older forward passes you your phone. When you glance at your screen you see the name and a photo of the two of you which was taken over the Christmas period in Zaragoza.

"Mapito?" Ellen question.

"I called her it once, she changed the name of the contact" you explain.

The look on Ellen's face isn't one you recognise. It's similar to when she is happy about something but this expression has a hint of something else.

"I'm proud of you Y/N. I used the think you would never allow yourself to have a life off the pitch"

It wasn't what you were expecting her to say but you feel a warmth grow inside of you. She was right, for a long time you was solely focused on your career and everything else came second to that. Now you have someone who you will happily spend the day with and not give football a second thought whilst you are with her.

"Oh and one more thing" Ellen says "You don't have to worry about me telling them but please make sure you don't let it cloud your judgement during the game"

"Thank you Ells and you don't have to worry about that, I won't let them go back to Spain with bragging rights"

You try and think of the best place to call Mapi back, as you wander the ground you choose the garden at the front of the hotel. Butterflies flooded your tummy as you wait for her to pick up.

Mapi picks up but before she acknowledges that you have called her, you hear her shouting at Leila, then the other defender's voice comes through the phone.

"Y/N, you need to sort your girlfriend out. She is a sexually frustrated mess and only you can give her the pleasure she needs" Leila blatantly tells you.

"Yeah Y/N" your hear Pina's voice "Mapi is so in love with you that she seems to hate all of us when you're not here"

You found a tiny bit of comfort knowing that your girlfriend was subject to the same teasing you were getting.

"That's not true. She just loves me more now please give her the phone back"

You hear the sound of the line change and you know that one of them has put the phone on speaker.

"She's counting down the days until she can kiss away your sorrows when we beat you" Patri joins in.

"I admire your confidence or maybe it's your stupidity. Besides from what Mapi has told me, Jorge has been working you to the bone so it will be my pleasure to send you home so that you can all have some time off before pre season"

"I hate it when you do that"

Now you heard the voice of the woman you originally wanted to talk to.

"What's that maps?" you ask her.

"You say something mean but you do it in the nicest way possible"

"It's one of my many skills"

"I prefer your other skills"

"Mapi! There are kids around" you say referring to her younger team mates, who you happen to be close with as well.

"I'm alone now and I really wish I wasn't" you could hear the frustration in her voice.

"Maria Leon, do you always have sex on your mind?" you tease her.

"Sex, no. Sex with you, yes. Can you honestly say you don't miss me or that you don't crave my touch?"

"No, I can't. I miss you and everything that comes with you"

"We are not leaving our apartment for a week when we get home" Mapi's promise was something you looked forward to but it was also unrealistic.

"I wish that was true"

"Me too"

The line goes quiet and for a second you think she has hung up but then you hear her breathing and it worries you.

"We'll be ok after the game won't we? I know one of us will lose but it won't affect me and you will it?"

"You mean our relationship?"

Mapi hums in response.

"Of course not. I love playing football but nothing in this world means more to me than you. Is that what's got you so stressed out?" part of you knew something bigger was going on with your girlfriend. To most of the world she has this tough exterior but it couldn't have been further from the truth.

"The girls keep saying that if we beat you then you will break up with me"

"Which girls?" you asked the question even though you had your suspicions.

"Leila and —“

"I'll speak to her" you hated that the girls were teasing Mapi despite knowing how sensitive she can be "As for me breaking up with you, well the chances of that happening are lower than you beating us and that is very low"

"You know that playing against me will be harder than playing against any other team"

The cockiness in her tone was back and although you knew you could beat her, doing so would be very difficult.

"Oh yeah, why is that?"

"Because I know how you think and how you play. I know your mind and your body"

You hated thinking about the power Mapi had over. She was right when she said you knew your mind and body, at this point it practically belonged to her. Your mind was at it's calmest when she was around and your body yearned for her whenever you were away.

A short distance away you see Ella and Alessia hiding, no doubtedly eavesdropping on your call and whilst most people would end the conversation you are about to have or at least steer it in a different direction, you saw the chance to teach the young forwards a lesson.

"You do? What is my body thinking right now?"

Their eyes widen at your words but they don't move. It's as if the stare you give is causing them to be frozen in place.

You try to keep the rest of the conversation as vague as possible but Mapi makes it very difficult because for every reply you give she responds with a suggestion that makes you want to drive all the way to Marlow.

In the end Mapi gets called away which ends the call a lot sooner than you wanted but you know you are in for quite the teasing, that's if Ella and Alessia have the guts to share details of your call with the rest of the team.

"My little devils, what am I going to do with you?" you put an arm around each of their shoulders.

The three of you walk back through the hotel in silence. It is clear the younger girls don't feel comfortable discussing what they heard on the phone. That is until you reach the breakfast room where some of the players are still lounging about.

"Y/N was having phone sex with her girlfriend" Tooney shouts.

"Ella!" Me and Alessia say in unison.

It wasn't that you didn't expect her to say anything, it’s more so the fact that she announced it to the whole room as soon as she entered.

"And you did it in front of the kids?" Jill jokes.

Jill then proceeds to console a scared Ella but you couldn't care less.

"The kids happened to be eavesdropping and I was enjoying my phone call way to much to stop on their behalf"

Some of the younger players fake gagged at the thought but the older players knew you wouldn't have said anything that bad given that you had kept your relationship a secret, so your sex life wouldn't be any different.

"Give me three clues" Leah asks when you take at a seat at her table, which also sat Lucy, Keira, Georgia, Millie and Rachel.

You expected better from your co captain but you knew the clues you would give and your friends would hate them.

"Fine" you reply much to the table's surprise "3 clues. She's from Spain, she speaks Spanish and she plays for Barcelona"

The first two are obvious but the third clue let’s them narrow down their list of names.

"Did you really have phone sex knowing they could hear you?" Millie asks.

"God no. Do you really think I'm going to have that kind of conversation in public where everyone can hear me and where I can do nothing to satisfy the urges that come with it?"

"Y/N!"

"Just saying"

When the team arrive at the stadium a few days later, they watch you and wait to see if you will give away the identity of your Spanish girlfriend. You on the other hand start to get nervous about what this game means and what it will take in order to reach the semi finals. You would have to outplay the people who you, for the most part, train with every day.

You wanted nothing more than to skip right through the pitch inspection. Since finding out you were dating a Barcelona player, the team have been teasing you relentlessly and you didn't have the energy to go toe to toe with them today. When you walk out onto the pitch you see that the Spain team are already there and when you see a certain defender you remember that you need to talk to her. The team watch as you and the Spanish national walk away and you can hear them shouting things but given the eyes around them the don't say that much.

"Y/N" Leila wraps her arms around you "I've missed you chica"

The conversation you had with Mapi kept replaying in your head. The seeds of doubt that her friends had planted began growing and you couldn’t doing anything to stop them, not right now anyways.

"Leila"

"Am I in trouble?" you nod your head "Why?"

"Do you know why Mapi is worried i'll break up with her?" from where you stand you can see your girlfriend bent down at the centre circle doing her own inspection, something that is part of her pre match routine.

"It was a joke which now that I see your face I realise isn't funny"

"She is one of your best friends, you know how sensitive she is. Just think before you say things that will stick in her head. Now we're going to see her so that you can apologise"

"You just want me to come with you so that your team doesn't get suspicious"

There’s no need for you to respond, she is right and she knows it.

"Hi"

Mapi's head snaps up at the sound of your voice.

"Hola bonita" she stands up and gives you a hug, one that doesn't last no where near as long as she wanted.

No words are exchanged, both of you break out in a smile, just being within touching distance is enough for now.

"Is this my punishment? Being made to stand here whilst you eye fuck each other?" Leila groans. She is used to be the third wheel in Barcelona having joined you and Mapi on date night more than a few times but the tension between the two of you makes her feel a little uncomfortable.

"Punishment?" Mapi looks to see you with a smug grin plastered across your face.

"Right, yes. Leila is there something you would like to say?"

"I'm sorry for saying Y/N would break up with you when we destroy the lionesses"

"Destroy?" you laugh slightly at the defender's optimism.

"You know I love your confident side but Leila's right, we will go back to Spain victorious"

"I know don't what's worse, the fact you think you're going to win or that you just said Leila's right"

Leila asks if you'll walk back with her stating that she had something she wanted to talk to you about. The conversation ended with you walking back into the tunnel with your arms wrapped around her shoulder whilst your hand rested on her waist.

Your team mates takes you spending most of the time with the brunette as confirmation, they are determined that you are dating Leila Ouahabi. In the locker room you got question after question about how your relationship starting and it didn't both you in the slightest, how could it, they had the wrong person. Once you re entered the locker room after warm up the teasing stopped and the game faces appeared.

The match ended with England going through to the semi final but you couldn't bring yourself to celebrate. This would go down as the worst win in your career but being the captain came with duties that you couldn't get out of. You thanked the fans and did your interview but neither of those could keep your focus because no matter where you were on the pitch you could see your friends in red consoling each other.

"Aren't you going to console your girlfriend?" Lucy asks.

"You know what, yes I am" you had watched from a distance for long enough.

Lucy who had been joined by Keira watches are you walk towards the group of Barcelona players. Like Lucy expected you went to Leila first but for you it was because she was the closest person to you, funnily enough Mapi is the last person. You had seen her wear a brave face for the sake of her team mates but it is only when she is in your arms does she drop the facade.

"I'm sorry" you subtly kiss her neck.

The embrace between you is different than the one you shared with your other team mates. When you lift you head up you see Lucy watching with shocked expression. When you unclasp your hands that are settled on the small of Mapi's back, you send Lucy the middle finger. The action let's her know that she was wrong and in doing so you tell her who you're dating.

"What's that about?" Keira asks.

"You'll find out when you join me in Barcelona"

"Shhh" Keira shoves her girlfriend "I told you it was a secret"

You stay out on the pitch as long as the Spain team does. You have no intention of celebrating the win and you hoped the fans and your team would understand this. When the stadium starts to empty, the players leave the pitch.

"Do you they know about us?" Mapi asks as she walks in sync beside you.

"Ellen does but the rest think I'm dating Leila"

This causes Mapi to stop in her tracks. Her eyes go wide in shock and she finds herself getting angry. She didn't like the act the world didn't know you were hers but your team mates thinking that you were with Leila, that she really didn't like.

"I'm not ok with that"

At this point you are practically in the tunnel so you grab her hand and pull her into one of the treatment rooms. You were grateful for the privacy it gave you and under any other circumstance you would be up for having a little bit of fun but you can tell by Mapi's face that she is very serious about this.

If her face didn't give it away, her choosing to pace the small room instead of sitting with you on the physio bench with you did.

"You're my girlfriend, not Leila's, and I don't want your team thinking you are dating my best friend"

To see Mapi care this much about people, who to her are strangers, is a rarity. You didn't care much for other people's opinions so whether the team knew or not, didn't matter. This was something you thought Mapi agreed with you on but her reaction tells you otherwise.

"Mapi" you voice is soft as you try to get her attention.

"I know that it's me who chose not the tell them at the beginning of the year but that was a mistake. They should know that you are mine and not hers"

Now she is getting territorial, a side which rarely ended well in the past. Mapi didn't like to share but this isn't sharing, your team don't even think of Mapi when they think of your relationship which makes it worse.

"Maria" you hope using her birth name will make her stop but it doesn't.

"Y/N I love you and I don't want them thinking you love Leila. You love me"

"Yes, I do"

Fatigue was beginning to set in. After playing 120 minutes of football your legs were getting heavy and given that Mapi had the job of keeping up with you for the game, you knew she would be feeling the same yet she continues to pace back and worth as she worked through her frustrations.

"Do they think Leila makes you happy? That she can love you the way I do? Make you feel the way I do? That—"

"Maria Pilar Leon Cebrian"

"Yes" she stops pacing when she is in line with you.

Using your index finger you signal her to come close to you. Her face changes and you know it's because she has finally noticed you are in a room together, alone. When she is close enough you take a fistful of her shirt to close the remaining distance between the two of you. Mapi’s hand cups the back of your neck as your lips crash into each other. The time you spend away from each other never get’s easier and it makes the reunions that much more intense. Nothing else matters in that moment other than to rid Mapi of the insecurities she is clearly feeling. When you pull away it is only for a second to catch your breath and then you are leaning back in, hungry for more and by the way Mapi mouth moves in sync with yours she obviously misses the connection you shared just as much as you did.

You are so caught up in the moment that you don’t hear the door open, nor you do you hear the voices that belonged to your team mates. At first they say nothing, they simply stand there and watch the two of you. They didn’t know what to do, they didn’t want to move in case they made a noise and it was clear that the two of you didn’t plan on stopping any time soon.

It is only when you start to lift Mapi’s t-shirt do they make themselves known.

“Sorry to interrupt but this is the treatment room and some of the others are on their way here” Chloe gives you a heads up.

What they didn’t see is that you already have your shirt off and Mapi being mapi, she didn’t bother putting hers on fully, instead it stays hung around her neck.

Just then another door open, one that you didn’t even notice was there and given the commotion that you can hear on the other side let’s you know it connects to the lionesses locker room. Your suspicions are proven true when you see Ella and Georgia, their eyes widen at the sight in front of them, you half dressed and Mapi not that much better

“Hempo!” Georgia shouts “You were right. Y/N’s secret girlfriend is Mapi Leon” 

Mapi still stands in between your legs and shows no sign of moving. You rest your head against her chest hoping that if the two of you stay still and quiet then the team will leave you alone but that doesn’t happen.

“How do you know?” Beth comes into the small treatment room followed by a couple more of your team mates.

You thought the teasing was bad before but now they know the identity of your girlfriend they have a lot more material to use against you. Something that is surprising is that a few of them tease Mapi even though they haven’t really met her other than on the pitch.

You tap Mapi’s sides indicating her to move away so you can stand up and put your shirt back on and help her with hers. You quickly peck her on the lips before taking her hand and dragging her into the Lionesses locker room. If you introduced her properly then maybe the night back at the hotel won’t be complete torture.

“Mapi meet the lionesses, girls meet Mapi my girlfriend”

You can see the grin that spreads across Mapi’s face upon hearing you officially introduce her as your partner. She had been waiting for this for months and you had too.

“Wait” Rachael interrupts the questions that the girls have “I thought you were dating Leila Ouahabi, their number 15”

“No, she is not’ Mapi corrects her rather abruptly “She is my girlfriend” 

You had just managed to settle down her territorial side and now, without knowing, Rachael had woken it back up.

“But Y/N spent all her time pre match with her, not you” Millie joined in and by the smirk of her face you know that she, for some reason, felt confident enough to tease the spaniard.

Mapi is ready to fight for you even though it is unnecessary and you really didn’t want her going back into her changing in a foul mood given that most her team will be feeling rough because of the final score.

“You sure you want to tease her millie?” You know Mapi wouldn’t hurt a fly but there is a reason why she got ‘looks can be deceiving’ on her neck.

Mapi picks up on the game you are playing and she changes her face. Safe to say Millie steps back without saying another word.

You lead Mapi out of the changing room but one of your team mates can’t help themselves. They had to tease your girlfriend on last time.

“Sorry we beat you and sent you back to Spain” Alessia says confidently.

Mapi knew she was one of the players you had taken under your wing but she can’t let the young forward get away with it.

“It’s ok. We’ll beat you in the champions league. Oh, wait, no we won’t. You didn’t qualify” 

At the mention of United Ella stands up ready to defend her club and after the game you had just played you really didn’t have the energy to play mediator between your girlfriend and the devils.

You push Mapi out the door but pull her back for one more kiss.

“I’ll see you tomorrow for breakfast before you go back to Barcelona” 

Mapi deepens the kiss and you don’t have the will power you push her away, not at first anyways. It is only when you hear a mixture of wolf whistles and fake gagging do you end the kiss. 

“I’ll see you in the morning. Te quiero Y/N”

“Yo también te quiero” 

Upon re-entering your locker room you see all eyes on you. Let the teasing begin, again.

[aotopmha]

There has been a bunch of talk about FF14's 'normal' difficulty content these past few days and on my part, I think I could take or leave any potential difficulty/friction increases.

As a new player of about 3ish months, I'm having a blast of just trying to perfect the dungeons despite them having a very rigid structure.

This conversation is super interesting to think about from the perspective of players with varying playtime, too, I think.

To me as someone who has been playing for just a few months (nearing the Shadowbringers base game ending MSQ-wise) and been doing roulettes almost daily because I enjoy running the dungeons, obviously they still feel fresh and fun.

I'm still also getting used to the rotations of any of the jobs I've picked up and still building muscle memory, so to me the game feels just the right kind of "easy" at this difficulty. None of the normal difficulty content has been super hard, but I feel I still have to use my brain, so I'm not feeling any of the criticisms about the gameplay becoming mindless.

But on another side to this are those who have played for a much longer time and have become really familiar with their jobs, seen the dungeon/job structure stay the same through several of the latest expansions or even just stepped into harder content like extremes, savages and ultimates, and gained a different perspective on the game as a result.

No matter how good something is, if it is the same for a long time, people will get tired of it and if the fail states of a game are at some point too easily bypassed, a game can become a mindless hallway.

As I said, I'm not at this point with this game, but I can see how people would get there.

But I'm also not struggling to the point where I would find a little tougher dungeons off-putting or too much.

Same for having tougher rotations with stronger fail states.

As long as it feels good, I'll play it.

What I am worried about is the game going too far in the other direction, where the difficulty would be too much, specifically a possible situation where something feels unfair and frustrating to complete, rather than satisfying to complete because I think a bunch of the difficulty of the older dungeons comes from poor telegraphing, rather than fair and satisfying challenge.

An example here to me would also be the Ivalice alliance raids: they have really cool encounters for sure, but also a bunch of mechanics that have really unintuitive telegraphing.

I didn't fail the math boss because it is basic math, I failed it because I had no idea where to even look to solve the mechanic.

Why should I face the sniper with the hole in the shield and not the shield itself?

Stuff like that isn't a challenge you can figure out, it's an artificial obstacle you have to push yourself through until you find the solution.

I think Dzamael Darkhold is a really neat idea for boss management/positioning for tanks, but the "challenge" of sitting in the magitek circles is more annoying than any kind of challenge.

Copperbell Mines (Hard) also has some maybe neat ideas of using stuff within the environment, but also end up just being annoying, like the golem boss.

But if they mean stuff like the second boss of Bardam's Mettle, which is a neat pure mechanic fight or the beginning section of Hell's Kier and how that uses the fodder enemies, I'm all for it!

I welcome keeping things unique and fresh: mixing up the structure of dungeons, doing something more unique with regular mobs, punishing failing mechanics harder and making failing your rotation cost more.

In fact, if there is one element of criticism in terms of the game's difficulty I absolutely agree with, it's the idea that there is no ladder between the easy and hard content. If you want to try the hard content you either consult sources outside of the game or jump in without zero preparation by the game. That's why I've been hesitant to try: I like easing in to harder content via a possible ladder and work through that step by step.

My current plan, for example, is to reach endgame (lvl 90) and from there start with the easier extremes and work up to the tougher content if I enjoy the process.

But the game doesn't really prepare you for the tougher content in any form on its own as far as I've looked up. It just exists.

A version of the Hall of the Novice, like Hall of the Expert for extreme and savage content would be really cool I think and I think the current Hall of the Novice should not only be made mandatory, but be updated with a couple more concepts as you run through the MSQ, too, to just give you just a sense of how the more difficult content feels, which then would eventually lead to the harder 'expert' version to be unlocked.

(This also doesn't mean they should give everything away, only create a sort of mini extreme/savage level difficulty test before you let people do the content.)

I feel the easier mandatory tutorial would help a bunch with learning the game, especially help with reducing the amount of players who don't understand the basics of their jobs, while the presence of an expert hall would serve as at least some indication of what you're in for in harder content.

But to loop back to the start, my tl; dr is that I'm having fun with what we have now, but it's easy enough where I feel I wouldn't struggle too much if they raised the base difficulty, but more importantly, increased the friction or made the struggle itself more substantial, provided they did this is in a satisfying, rather than frustrating manner.

It's a balance that strikes me as fairly difficult to achieve, but if they do, I think they'll make something truly amazing out of it for players who enjoy easy and hard content alike.

In general, they are promising a lot of content with Dawntrail, but to me the most important element here is that all of that content would be actually good.

Quantity =/= quality, so, from the MSQ to the new exploratory zone to the new deep dungeon and even the graphics update, I'm just hoping everything they give us in the new expansion is good.

[sofasoap]

Am I full of sorrow, or filled with love.

Pairing: Simon “Ghost ” Riley x f!Reader ( OC aka Mini MacTavish )

Summary : Part II of " Love, Do not pass me by." Our emotionally constipated boy Simon is having a moment of self reflection. And realise the universe hates him.

Warning: Mature theme, swearing. Alcohol use ( be RESPONSIBLE drinker people.) Unplanned pregnancy ( safe sex pls!) . mention of abuse. Inaccurate medical facts etc.

Thank you to @saltofmercury ’s for lending me her character from “The Favorite MacTavish” , where the reader/OC is Soap’s little sister. PLEASE GO READ HER STORY first to make sense of this

“masterlist” for more stories to this Mini MacTavish expanded verse.

The tension within the task force 141 after the unexpected pregnancy news, to say, awkward was an understatement. Luckily, Soap and Ghost acted professional stay civil to each other during missions after a stern warning from Price, but off mission they stay far away from each other as they can.

Alejandro made the mistake of asking about the awkward tension once ( bless his poor soul, can't blame that man) and got death glare coming from both Ghost and Soap while Gaz was strongly hinting him to drop the subject.

Ghost stepped outside to have a moment to himself, away from the party noises which is happening back at Alejandro's base, celebrating another successful mission of reclaiming another town from the cartel.

Taking a drag from his cigarette, he thought back to the event from the last few months, leading right up to the event few weeks earlier on when you came to the base and drop the bombshell about the pregnancy.

First time you two met, he wondering what has he done to deserve this, he is pretty sure his enemies must have cursed him. Instead of cursing him to seven hell, they asked the universe to send him not one but TWO MacTavishes to be in his life and annoy the hell out of him.

He heard about you before, Soap couldn't shut up about his baby sister most time. My sister this, my sister that. She's the most precious thing in the world blah blah. Part of him was curious to meet you. Another part wondering you were just as annoying as his brother. You were.

You actually dare to challenge him to a drinking game. To be fair, a chance to shut Soap up for the entire night was the biggest factor that he accepted the challenge. and you NEARLY beat him. The cocky smile that you showed when you think you were on the cusp of victory, stirred part of his heart he never thought he had. He gets drawn to you, bit by bit with each of the meeting and interaction. The sibling bantering between you and Soap made him miss his brother Thomas. That normal family love that he only got to experience for a little while before the tragedy. He was slightly disappointed and got extremely jealous when he saw you flirting with König.

She's mine. Stay away from my woman. His heart screams.

 ” I am just as cuddly as König if you want to give it a try. And I will keep you nice and warm in the bed as well.“

"My offer still stands, if you are willing." He whispered after walking you back to the accommodation you staying for the weekend, visiting Soap at the barrack. Turning around ,the way you look at at him, confusion and also hint of lust and want just turned him on even more. Does he regret what happen that night? No and yes. No because he had been craving for that light, that little warmth that he has been searching for a long time. All the love and attention you were showing him. Not just some random flings and one night stands. He regrets it because he doesn't deserve any of this. Your gentleness, your laughter, the way you look at him.

The bombshell? His defence mechanism just kicked into gear. "And?" Nonono, don't say that. yes say it. Happiness isn't for you. “ I don’t care. Do whatever you want.” His heart flinches when he saw tears and anger in your eye. It's for the best. His brain tells him.

You will be just the same as your father. You will turn out to be exact same guy. Apple never falls far from the tree. You don't deserve her. Push her away. He can't subject the children to the same fate as him. .....wait.

All of a sudden he realised something.

"... Simon Riley, you are the father of the babies" Did you say BABIES? Are you expecting twins??? A dreaded feeling came to him.

Ding.

Price looking at his phone, email coming through from SAS UK, flagging needing urgent attention. Opening the email, all the smile drained from his face. Gaz noticed it first, bumping his shoulder, asking his Captain what the problem is. Price ignored him and stood up, walking up towards Soap instead who is having what seems to be a good time ( but Price can tell he isn't the usual happy rowdy Soap after a successful mission). "Soap." " Yes Captain? why all this seriousiness?" Soap raise his bottle of beer cheering his captain.

" Is your phone on at all?" Soap pulled out his phone from his side pocket, looked at it,frowning " Aw shites, think I broke it when the bloody asshite knocked me over earlier this morning. better get a new one issued once we get back to base." ".... Mini is in ICU. Your mother tried to contact you but the call couldn't get through, so SAS emailed me just now letting you know. We will get you back to London first flight tomorrow morning. They said there is a chance both her and the babies might not make it." The room just went silent. Ghost caught tail end of the conversation just as he came back into the building. He froze.

He knew it. Everytime he tries to grasp onto that little hope of light, or wanting to make a better man of himself, the universe has another plan for him. You don't deserve happiness We gonna take away everything you want. Make you suffer.

Now he is going to lose the only woman he might possibly dare to say to be the love of his life.

[sometimes-love-is-enough]

BEING PASSION: ...Until next time.

(PAGES 1-2 + cover) (PAGES 3-5) (PAGES 6-8) (PAGES 9-12)

Some bonus design thoughts, below:

Although I am easily one of the least elegant creatures on the planet, Passion (being an imaginary facet of my personality) does Not have the same constraints. She's ridiculously dextrous, active, and energetic, and is rarely not moving. She moves with the speed of a cat with the zoomies, is what I'm saying, and has the movies of a seasoned professional dancer to boot.

Communicating this in a comic medium was a fun challenge! I referenced three main styles of dance for her poses - contemporary, ballet, and swing. She's a bit all over the place with her dancing and running styles, but the aim was for it to look perfectly natural every time. She's good at what she does.

Not included on these notes: the studies I did of professional divers for the dive-headfirst-into-the-ground sequence, and the same for parkour. She probably jumps off buildings for fun.

Her jacket is based on one that I have in real life! Which is obviously one of my favorites.

It's covered in patches, which I 100% absolutely did NOT attempt to copy, because can you imagine. The patches that Pash has on her jacket are a lot more vague and sketchy, and are constantly shifting around. You can probably imagine that they have various activism and pride-based slogans all over them. Her jacket's also a bit floppier and drape-ier than mine - it flows with her, tends to bunch up and puff up as she moves.

Her skirt isn't supposed to make sense. In general, it's wispy and see-through, maybe made out of tulle or some other see-through material, a bit indecent. It swirls along with her, and never gets in her way even thought it would make a lot of sense for it to... you know, trip her up or tangle around her legs. Which is more than can be said for my skirts.

Finally, although my other Sides don't make any formal appearance in this comic, that doesn't mean they're not there! This comic mostly takes place in Passion's domain, which is partially dance studio, partially grassy endless field, partially indistinct abstract watercolor daydream mess - but she ends up dashing briefly through the others' zones in the middle of it all, and at the end you can see everyone's favored spots in the distance! If I end up drawing any more of these, you'll probably see more of them, but, it didn't feel right to leave them all out entirely.

That's all for now. Thanks for tuning in!

[hetagrammy]

Do you have your own take on the cardverse AU? What is it like?

Way back in 2019 I had a Cardverse AU planned, and there was a lot of inspiration from @kyokyo866 's own take on Cardverse! It was very centered on the NA Brothers, with the basic plot being they were both born with King brands to the King of Diamonds (Francis), and Spades lacked a king, so Alfred was married off to prevent a future succession crisis in Diamonds and to satisfy a succession crisis in Spades.

The concepts I had for it have changed a little since, and I'd definitely change a lot of plot stuff if I ever went back to it, but some aspects have stayed the same. I'd keep magic as more of a rarity rather than a commonplace skill/aspect of society, but still present. I think it would keep the vibe a bit more fairytale-like, where magic isn't impossible but just remarkable enough to be a surprise. I kept to the whole brand/birthmark thing that's still pretty popular in fanon, but each kingdom has a slightly different system and culture surrounding it:

Spades has a prominent, traditionalist noble class with little upward mobility. The nobles send representatives to court, and the Queen and Jack are traditionally noble. However, the King is selected and found via prophecy, and thus could be born a commoner. The Ace is chosen by the King, and therefore could also come from a lowborn background. Spades' whole culture revolves around ideas about fate, prophecy, and superstition.

Diamonds also has a prominent noble class, but is more flexible with mobility. There is a distinction between old and new money, but financial success is what determines social status. A friend of mine once came up with the idea that the wealthy of Diamonds have something of a social contract, in that they are expected to provide public works and benefits in exchange for their power. Their power is derived from displays of wealth, which can cause dynastic chains and changes when it comes to the King/Queen.

I also have to credit my friend with an idea for Hearts which I absolutely love, which is the concept of love being part of a greater religious obligation. She came up with this idea of Hearts having a relic that is the literal heart of the first Queen that can offer guidance to the country via a high priest (the Ace in this case). It's all about the pursuit of love and happiness, but there's a big emphasis on the sacrifice inherent in that as well. The King and Jack come from this long line where the Jack has always been raised to be the King's loyal vassal, with a bond possibly stronger than that of the King and Queen (who is chosen by the King of course). Generally, your brand is based on merit, because again, that idea of sacrifice or love for the nation/lord is prevalent. This is why military officials typically have higher ranks there.

Clubs is where the ranking is most direct, with the King being selected from amongst the leading boyars in Clubs upon the death of the previous King. The King may also be challenged, or boyars may challenge each other to a duel for the kingship. The Ace and Queen are typically chosen by the King, in the Queen's case usually after a lengthy process of selecting from among the boyar families. The Jack is typically raised from a peasant position, as it ensures they will be able to advise the King and run his household without favoring any of the boyar families. Those born without marks are considered society's lowest, making up a serf class tied to a ruling boyar and their land.

I don't know if I'll ever come back to writing for this AU, but if you catch me drawing it on occasion, those are some of my general thoughts!

[courtney-deserved-better]

Emoji fanfic ask

❌🛒🥺⛔️

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

ohoho, so many. ive posted excerpts from a few on ao3, such as the gwourtney tdwt rewrite that i scrapped & the trent comes back to tdwt instead of duncan au that i only wrote one chapter for. the rest are locked away in my files and seldom looked at.

there's a fic for a new season back on the island that takes place a year or so after tdrr with all new challenges that i gave up on after like two and a half chapters (nemma was the main couple for that one to give you a sense of how long ago i wrote it lol).

there's a tdas fic from alejandro noah courtney and gwen's povs (guess what the main ships are...) that i planned out extensively and then started writing for that i haven't worked on in years, probably because the actual writing of it didn't seem nearly as good as the planning did.

there's a really old gwent & nemma fic that i think was an au of the black friday musical? idk what i was thinking. it was bad. it was nonsensical and it was bad.

and then there was this whole high school au that mostly focused on the theatre department and was absolutely based on my high school that was a hyperspecific flavor of weird (us students described it as a combination of a summer camp and a cult so uh... i guess that isn't too far off from tdi).

there was also a post tdrr season i planned out that took place on a cruise ship and contestants competed in trios? i read the one and only chapter i wrote for that and apparently alejandro had a younger sister named marcela who is honestly kind of an icon lol i should bring her back for a different fic or something.

and pretty much assume that for every season of total drama, i had at least one rewrite planned that i eventually abandoned. honestly it's sort of a long term goal of mine to write my own version of every season of td. i've got tdwt with slippery slopes, tdrr with amicus curiae, and eventually tdi with the courtney time travel au. we'll see how long that takes lmao it's already been over a year and i'm like 40% done at the most.

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

probably any kind of soulmate au. i just don't like the idea of a romance that's so predestined that there isn't any real development between the characters. i like to read and write feelings growing organically, and when the characters instantly lock eyes and have this automatic deep connection it just feels very artificial to me. that's not to say that all soulmate aus are like that, and there's actually one or two (non td) that i enjoy and regularly reread.

but i think to write a soulmate au i would need a very strong plot revolving around soulmarks and whatnot and i would rather just have the plot without the soulmates. i feel like the concept of soulmates implies that there's only one person a character can have a meaningful relationship with and once they find that person the relationship will be perfect.

i like reading/writing about the struggles that come with making the choice to be with someone you love without any certainty that they'll be your perfect person forever. the fact that you don't have that certainty but choose to stay and foster a relationship and have that hope for a bright future together makes it a lot more meaningful to me. i also feel like soulmate aus tend to prioritize romance much higher than friendship and those are two kinds of relationships that i like to place on equal ground in my writing.

im not trying to say that all soulmate aus are bad, or that ppl shouldn't enjoy them. they can absolutely be some people's jam and if it makes you happy then go for it! there are definitely tropes i like that other people don't for valid reasons and that's all okay.

thanks for the ask!

[bechnokid]

Thoughts on the new Pokémon games? Any favorite Pokémon or characters?

They are pretty good! My favorite character is Nemona and my favorite Pokemon is Chi-Yu, who I have lovingly named "Splashy".

I do have some more in-depth thoughts if you want to keep reading.

Graphics (5/10)

Probably some of the worst I've seen in a mainline game, despite the character and Pokemon models being really high-quality.

The low-quality draw distance is to be expected, but it's still pretty jarring seeing NPCs without their hand animations fully rendered. Some hands would look like 🤚 when holding a Pokeball or even just a pencil.

The environments are really lackluster, and the weather can cause the frame rate to drop into the single digits.

Glitches are plentiful, but not in a good way. Pokemon spawning in walls, HP bars glitching in Tera Raids, environments glitch when camera is not at an optimal angle, etc.

However, the Pokemon's textures look absolutely fantastic. I love how shiny the Magnemite line looks. :3 I kinda wish the particle effects were better on Pokemon like Skeledirge and Chi-Yu, but that's ok.

Story (10/10)

I'm so glad the story ended up so much better in SV than in SwSh. I remember not being able to play through Shield after playing Sword because of how boring the story was. Not this time, though. SV continued to keep me engaged throughout the whole thing.

(SPOILER ALERT) I kinda wish they put more effort into making Scarlet and Violet different from each other regarding the AI Sada and Turo. I don't think it would have been too farfetched to have Sada a golem because of the existence of legendary titans.

Arven's story is fantastic, and although he is not a favorite character of mine, I've really warmed up to him after learning his goal in healing his Mabosstiff.

Gameplay (7/10)

I really thought Gym Leaders, Titans, and Team Star Battles would be scaled. That would have been really cool...

I was deeply saddened that they decided to remove the majority of the QoL features from PLA, and reverted to its traditional turn-based gameplay. It isn't bad by any means, but it makes the game slower than it should be.

Being able to sneak up on Pokemon and catching them off-guard was really fun, but I wish it can be applied to also catching them and not just battling them.

However, auto-battling is really cool and fun!! I love it! Being able to bring out my Pokemon and battle other wild Pokemon really sped things up.

Follower Pokemon are back!! Although I kinda wished they changed the speeds of some of the Pokemon when they're running/walking with you. Chien-Pao, I know you have a walking animation, please just relax and walk with me!!

RIP sparkling sounds when finding shiny Pokemon. I understand that it makes finding them more exciting, but I think it makes it harder for those who have difficulty telling colors apart to find them. I don't really get having to remove a feature that would otherwise make finding shiny Pokemon more accessible to others.

Characters (8/10)

Although no one really got me all "doki-doki" like Guzma has, the cast was absolutely fantastic this time around.

I love that almost all of the gym leaders have their gym challenges as something they do on the side. Their passion is something else that they're into and they bring it into their Pokemon battles, whether it's baking, creating art, streaming, cooking, etc.

The Elite Four is fantastic, too. It's great seeing another Gym Leader become another member of the Elite Four. :3

That said, I don't trust Geeta.

Please help Larry.

Overall Score (7.5/10)

Pretty good! It's a good start to an open-world Pokemon game, but kinda falls behind compared to other open-world games out there that have surpassed it by a long shot and were released earlier! I mean like. The franchise is nearing its 30th anniversary and it still doesn't have voice acting of any kind.

It's an obvious result of dev crunch, and I really hope they space out release dates if it means getting better games. However, I don't think this will happen anytime soon.

[thtupidity]

So I actually did this a lot faster than expected so uhhh here's the character pages. There were also all the locations until Jan 2021 (or whenever the space station update was) but nothing really of importance.

Anyways here's the core crew's entries, only Jake, Tricky, Fresh, and Yutani had 4 pages unlike the 2 the others got (except for Dino, Boombot, and Miss Maia who all share a single page)

Jake, the first character you meet in subway surfers is the group's leader!

[no speach bubble]

- his grades don't actually reflect his intelligence because he's "too much of a dreamer to focus on schoolwork"

- he constantly wants to go further than everyone else which is why he doesn't turn down challenges and dares (how can this possibly go wrong)

- his need for thrill makes him kinda insensitive towards his friends, he still cares about them and will do risky things for them. Sometimes just for fun.

Tricky, meet the gang's rebel girl— and dance diva!

"I gotta admit, that my ballet training comes in handy when I'm jumping obstacles in the tunnels! But I have to be careful not to twist an ankle — my tracher and my parents would kill me..."

- she can only use her money on things her parents allow her to

- if she gets caught by Ted her parents would make sure she never skates again

- she is a complete perfectionist and takes angles and physics into consideration, and if she can't emulate it perfectly she gets frustrated

Fresh, Fresh was birn in the wrong time: his head is totally in the 1980s

"I live my life by the five elements of hip-hop: MC'ing, DJing, breakdancing, graffiti and education! Okay and skating. Is there room for a sixth element? Who decides this stuff?"

- there isn't much that we already know i.e just saying "he loves the 80s" over and over again and his paragraphs are short. Justice for my boy.

- "Fresh is the most levelheaded of the gang — good at defusing arguments and keeping them all together. He thinks before he speaks, which is kore than you can say for Jake!" ...damnnn

- He feels as if his family is stifling sometimes, so he likes being able to get away from them.

Spike, keeping it real!

[no speach bubble]

- Spike is pointed out to have his fashion more closer to the 70s compared to everyone else's 80s vibe. So food for my "Spike is older" headcanon yum yum

- His boots are shit for skating

Yutani, the gang's resident tech genius, whose inventions are out of this world!

"Whatever my home planet is like, I hope it has lower gravity than Earth — imagine the jumps and tricks you could pull off! And it'd hurt less when you fell, too."

- Yutani thinks there is a tech-based solution to any problem

- She thinks she's an alien because of her missing birth records

- Yutani being able to understand the turbine is implied to be related to her alien orgin

- She also sometimes says more than she's supposed to on her streams (let Yutani do the next interactive stream, grill her on information instead)

Lucy, the punk girl of the gang

"Who said goths have to be mopey and depressed? Sure, I hang out in dark tunnels a lot— but I know how to have fun!

- so there isn't anything important just describing her outfits. But them calling her punk and then talking about her being goth is mildly annoying.

Frank, who *is* that guy?

[no speach bubble]

- nothing much (predictably) just making fun of his clothes.

King, who made him king?

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown, that's what they alwayd day. They should try wearing a crown made of paper! Saves a lot of neck strain."

- not a subway surfer, but he hangs around them because he wants to be included in the fun (justice for King)

- His design is based off of a kid on the album "you've come a long way, baby" by Fatboy Slim

Ella, fresher than Fresh!

"That little brother of mine doesn't know real music when he hears it..."

- She likes reggae music over Hip-hop

- that's about it sadly

Ninja, the moonlight shadow! (i love this title)

"I will strike when you least expect it. Not now. Or now. Look, it won't be when you're watching me."

- He still has no canon name

- A lot of talk about ninjas being assassins so I like to take it as their way of saying Ninja has killed and will kill again.

- His Yang outfit could be useful for sneaking around in the snow

Tagbot, the cyber-surfer

"My databanks contain over three million tags in two hundred languages! I can also spell-check your tags, if you like."

- Yutani is the one who built him, and its stated that he's inspired by Jake. Love her still but would like to know her reasoning to this bold choice.

Tasha, bringing good cheer!

"Give me an "S"! Give me a "u"! Give me a "b"! Give me a "w"! Give me a "a"! Give me a "y"! What d'you mean, why? It's today's word hung word! LOOK, I JUST NEED THE "Y" AND I'VE COMPLETED IT!!"

- there isnt actually a lot here, other than like "hah bet you didn't think you'd find someone like her being a subway surfer!" So were moving on. Most of these are like this. (Justice for Tasha)

Zoe, playing dead.

"Must...tag...walls..."

- she's one of those fast zombies which is horrifying

- She's also not very talkative

- She hasn't tried to eat anyone's brain... "yet"

- Again shes implied to have been dead since the 50s

Brody, too cool for school

"I surf anywhere... beaches, subways... its all just boards to me!"

- young lifeguard

- He's posh?? Maybe??

(These all share a page unfortunately)

Dino [no sub title]

"Roar! What else do you expect me to say? Im a dinosaur."

- "maybe its secretly Yutani"

Boombot [no sub title]

"I don't break down when I break-dance!"

- I hope youre hungry. For nothing. (Justice for boombot)

Miss Maia [no sub title]

"People think i'm mysterious because I wear this respirator mask... really, I just want to avoid breathing in paint fumes. It's good sense!"

- I hope youre hungry. For nothing. (Justice for Maia)

Guard and Dog, don't let them catch you!

"This job would be great if it weren't for those kids. I'd never have to do anything! Although them the boss might fire me for doing nothing..."

- Ted's boss reveal when

- Hes always following them around the world. He's the biggest hater in the subway surfers universe no one does it like him.

- Subway company either makes him wear costumes on holidays or he just does it himself

- He dresses up as NYPD, which im pretty sure is a crime to impersonate an officer...

[epicspheal]

Wondering, how would Calla react to being transported to Hisui? Mainly reactions to like. The Galaxy team, the way of life, stuff like that!

Also if you want to do the battle aspect, it’d be interesting to see her quotes for how she’d react to seeing an Alpha for the first time, getting hit by a wild Pokémon’s attack, fall damage, being spotted while sneaking up on a mon, low HP for herself, battling a Noble Mon and stuff like that as well! :>

Hi there anon! Good question! I'm going to be honest...you picked the one OC of mine that would most likely die within a week if they got transported to Hisui. I say this because the very core personality trait that endeared her to many (both in-universe and out) would in the situation of being transported to Hisui be her undoing. And that's her love and passion for poison type Pokemon. Even in the event of her having her memories wiped/scrambled from falling space-time it's such a core part of her identity that her love and defense of poison types would still be intact (much like canon Rei/Akari's ability to catch and train Pokemon and Ingo's train based mannerism/sayings). And this is dangerous for her in two different ways: One in the canon of cactusverse she refuses to catch ANY pokemon that isn't a poison type (or at least will evolve into one with the case of Galarian Slowpoke) again out of her personal choice to train poison types. Which you know makes her the first ever Poison type champion in the history of not only Galar but the world...but it also made her gym challenge a living hell (compared to Leon who breezed through his challenge quite handily) So on that note she'd fail Cyllene's test to catch three different Pokemon in an instance especially since the requests aren't poison types. She'd probably go find the poison types to catch but because she disobeyed the order she's probably not passing. You'd think she'd have some common sense and self-preservation to just catch the Pokemon she needed and then focus on poison types but while Calla is very book, she's kind of sheltered and naive, especially compared to the rest of the cactusverse champions who would put their self-preservation over personal stances and even morals to differing extents. Speaking of her going to the poison types, this leads to her second problem. The Hisuian Pokemon are way more aggressive than what she's used to. To be fair: the Pokemon in modern cactusverse are still very aggressive but maybe like 60% of the aggression the Hisuian Pokemon share. And the poison types tended to be among the most aggressive overall so there's a high chance she would get unalived by the very Pokemon she's trying to catch. So to be frank anon, it's not really looking good for her. If you had of asked about Marsha, Cami or Jack they would have far better chances of survival because they're less naive and not so fixated on one type of Pokemon that they must have. I will say Calla's best bet for survival in Hisui is not if she falls near Laventon but if she fell near one of the clans. Her becoming a warden to say Overqwil is something I could see happening. But again she still faces the very real possibility of just being taken off the census because the poison types were wildly unhinged in Hisui.

[rapifessor]

Good news, everyone!

Yesterday, I was talking with my friend who offered me his copy of Pokémon Platinum and I mentioned how obtaining Emerald was going to be the biggest financial hurdle. He said he should have a copy of that somewhere as well, but like Platinum he didn't know where. Naturally, I told him that I'd be very grateful if he was able to find his old Pokémon games, as it would make my quest to play them all considerably easier. Emerald is easily the most faked game on the market because of its luxurious status and price point, so having access to an authentic copy would save me a lot of trouble.

Well, guess what: not long after saying that, my friend gets back to me with good news. He didn't just find his copy of Platinum, but Emerald too, AND Fire Red.

I couldn't believe my luck. With those three games, so many of my problems are solved. I could play all the versions I wanted without having to spend a ton of money. But it gets better: my friend offered me a deal. He had two Nintendo DS Lite systems that couldn't read games, but otherwise functioned normally. If I could restore their functionality, he would straight up give me Emerald and Fire Red in addition to Platinum. Even though these games are worth big money.

I mean, hey, I can't argue with a deal like that. How lucky does a guy have to be to not only find a bunch of old Pokémon games in trustworthy hands, but to also have the opportunity to earn them for free? I didn't know anything about cleaning or refurbishing a DS, but there was no harm in trying. So I stopped by my friend's house after work that day to make the deal.

Turns out cleaning a DS Lite isn't overly complicated, and I had on hand all the tools needed for the job. I just needed to get into the slots and remove the corrosion. So I did that and also cleaned the corrosion off of the games themselves, as I discovered during my testing that some games worked better than others. With a few hours of work, I got both systems reading games pretty consistently, which meant that Pokémon Platinum, Emerald, and Fire Red were officially mine.

Ah, but there is a slight... problem. The thing with these older Pokémon games is that the cartridges have batteries in them. In Emerald, they're meant to enable time-based events to occur, and in Generation 1 and 2 GameBoy games, to allow the game to save. These batteries only last about 10 to 15 years before they dry up, which means most if not all Emerald games have dead batteries.

Not to worry though, as it is possible to replace the batteries in these games. It's fairly simple as well, as long as you know what you're doing. You just need a special driver to open up the cartridge, a fresh battery with soldering tabs, a soldering iron, and some solder. Once I get a battery and the tool I need to open the cartridge, I can restore functionality to my copy of Emerald.

That leaves just three games left to acquire. One of those is on the way as I'm writing this: a copy of Pokémon Yellow, the game I need to start playing, and with a new battery already installed no less. I found one on eBay for $40, and figured it was worth paying a little extra to not have to bother with getting a new battery for it. Generation 1 games as it turns out are surprisingly cheap. In fact, they're the cheapest games on the market aside from used copies of 3DS and Switch Pokémon games.

The same cannot be said of Generation 2 games, however. At least, not for Crystal.

Pokémon Crystal is worth a pretty penny, second only to Emerald in value on the secondhand market. Finding a copy of this that doesn't run me more than $100 is proving to be a bit of a challenge. And I'll most likely need to replace the battery on top of that. Not a big deal, but it does marginally add to the expenditure. Since I refuse to accept Gold or Silver in the place of Crystal, obtaining this game will be the greatest obstacle faced during my quest, especially as I need to play it before I can play the rest of my games.

But even as Crystal has so far eluded me, I have gotten my hands on the only other game I had left to buy: Pokémon White.

I decided to return to the GameStop where I bought Black 2 and Soul Silver before, and luckily (how many times have I referenced my luck in this post?) they still had this copy of White. I'd done some more pricing research yesterday and realized that I underestimated the value of a lot of the games I was looking to pick up. $75 turns out to be a fair price for White, although you could probably get it cheaper if you really stake things out.

Funnily enough, $100 for Leaf Green turned out to not be far off, either. But Fire Red was the version I wanted, and in fact, my friend happens to have Leaf Green himself. In case I ever want any version-exclusive Pokémon from that game, I can always borrow it to trade them to my Fire Red.

And that about does it for this Pokémon game collection progress update. I can't say I ever expected to get so many games so easily, but here we are. It's barely been three days and there are only two games that I don't yet have in hand. It won't be long before I can start playing either, as my copy of Yellow should arrive any day now. I'm excited to get this thing started.

[fae-fucker]

Review: Of Goblins and Gold by Emma Hamm

Oops forgor to post this review here lmao :')

So ... I read the prequel to this book and hated it with a passion of a thousand suns. You might be asking, "Ok you hater, why go back to read the actual book it's based on?"

Mutliple reasons. 1) I am a hater. 2) I wanted to see if the author would put more effort into her solo projects/proper books. 3) A friend of mine tried to read it and failed, and I am nothing if not a martyr. 4) Yeah?? Maybe I want to read a story with a hot Goblin King in it? I didn't grow up watching The Labyrinth, I'm a little younger than most who did (and also not American), but just the words "Goblin King" are enough to perk my cat ear headphones.

Basically, I was curious, and I wanted to give this book a chance. Against my better judgment, clearly.

I'll cut to the chase: the writing is very poor. Like, to the point where I wasn't sure about the target demographic of this book, that's how juvenile and simplistic it was. Slightly better than the prose in the prequel short story, but only marginally. It reads like something for lower middle grade kids, it has this fairytale quality that's less dreamy and more "Oh, this could be a picture book." To illustrate my point, I literally, physically recoiled when I read the word "fuck" being uttered by a character, because it was so sudden and jarring amidst what had been, up to that point, Freya sees ball, see Freya run.

The writing isn't helped by quite poor and derivative characterization, the nonsense worldbuilding, and the shaky and confusing plot.

Freya is a fae-hating, determined young woman who totally isn't an off-brand Feyre (and I say this as an SJM hater, so being an off-brand copy of a shitty character is not great), and the Gerblin Shmerblin is a ... star-themed hot guy in a billowing shirt. Cool. Great. They don't have chemistry as much as they have scenes together and interact with each other. I understand Jareth and his magic bulge was the sexual awakening for many, and you will not get that here.

My biggest problem with this here book is the plot, and the ... themes? Morals? Where do I even begin?

Freya is understandably distrustful of goblins because her parents taught her to be. Esther is ... not. So Esther runs away with a goblin boy, and Freya thinks that she's been kidnapped because she finds a threatening note saying so (that I don't remember if it's ever explained who wrote it), and sets out to save her. She encounters the Gorblin Shmorblin, who challenges her to a game to fetch mystical artefacts from each of the four courts. Which she does, very easily. It apparently takes her weeks, though some of that time she spends brainwashed, I suppose. We then find out that it was easy on purpose, because the Gablin Mamblin wanted her to win for some reason?

Spoiler warning because I have to go into some very confusing things that honestly won't really spoil anything because it's hard to make sense of what's exactly being spoiled.

[Spoiler start]

Basically, the Gobbo Bobbo knew Esther came willingly, but also wanted Freya to think she didn't so she would fight to get her back, but also he wanted her to succeed along the way, but also he tried to trick her into getting frozen for eternity, but also he wanted to get her to join him in his court, but also he didn't care about Esther at all and was just doing this to amuse Freya because he saw that she was too special for her mundane life and wanted more from it and he was there to provide that excitement by being the villain in her story? I honestly could not tell you his motivations at all. I don't understand why he didn't just show Esther to Freya right away, cleared up the misunderstanding, and then try to seduce/lure Freya in the way he attempts it at the end of the book, while Freya still believes he stole Esther? Of course he'd fail then! It's made clear that Freya staying with him is very important, so why did he waste all that time toying with her for shits and giggles? It makes no sense. And at the end, when it shows that Freya winning was a huge mistake, him toying around with Freya like this made no sense at all. If so much was at stake, why did he fuck around? What was his actual motivation? What did he want? Yeah, read the sequels etc, but the reader still needs to have some idea of a character's motivations in order to connect with them and, important in a romance novel, root for the romance to happen! The narrative attempts to paint him as this manipulative mastermind, and yeah, he's one of those things, but we have no idea what goal he's manipulating Freya towards at all. In the end, it just looks like he fucked up real bad. Tried to swing his dick around and got it stuck in a blender type shit.

[Spoiler end]

The way this book handles Freya's prejudice leaves a weird taste in my mouth. As per my review of Stolen Goblin Bride, Esther is an insufferable brat who is always right and who never gets punished for hurting those around her, particularly Freya. The narrative and other characters encourage Esther to act like an asshole, because Esther is Good and Pure and Righteous and anything she does is automatically correct, even when she knows it'll hurt her sister. And even in Freya's own story, Esther is vindicated in the end. This book confirms what was hinted at in Stolen Goblin Bride: Esther is always right, and Freya is always wrong. It's honestly kind of gross and uncomfortable to read, like the author had a grudge against Freya and thus didn't want to afford her any sort of depth or complexity.

We're led to believe that Freya, who was raised to believe goblins were dangerous and had no reason to believe otherwise, is actually a close-minded bigot who is in denial about how great the fae are and how much she longs for the adventure the fae world provides.

I get what the author was going for, but it falls really flat for many interconnected reasons. Freya spends the entire book warring against the idea of goblins/fae being good people and the fae world being wonderful, believing they stole her sister, and denying her (supposed) attraction to the Gabby Babby, up until the last pages of the book. But when she finally meets Esther and sees that she wants to be there, Freya's like "Oh ok. Nevermind then. I was wrong and you were right." Like, she kept denying it for so long, to the point it became unrealistic, but all it actually took was Esther, the paragon of righteousness, to tell her to calm down?

It's not even a bad idea, it's fine to have Freya's sister be the final nail in the bigot coffin, but the way Freya folds and doesn't even doubt or give up or feel bitter or anything? She spends the majority of the book being in denial, then flips on a dime and goes "Ok! This is fine actually! Whatever my little sister wants, uwu!" It's the author showing her hand very blatantly. Like, ok, the book is over, time for the finale and for tying a nice bow on the character development. Freya is done with her arc, which was less an arc and more of a 90 degree angle, so now her anger and denial are just gone despite being her main characterization throughout. Freya's entire character gives way for Esther's wants and needs, and it's framed like Esther is doing Freya a favor by opening her eyes to the wonders of the goblins.

And the thing is, Freya being in denial isn't even that convincing, either? Obviously, she needs to be in denial for this particular plot, I get it, and the part that doesn't work for me is the idea that there is something to deny at all. Pretty much every fae creature she encounters wants to hurt her, except for the one side character she forces into servitude who doesn't, at any point, show that he wants to help her out of the kindness of his heart and nothing else, and one character who Freya admits herself seems nice but harbors some threatening edge deep down (not even that deep down, tbh).

So all the things Freya sees that she needs to deny are ... pretty landscapes. The mere existence of magic. The supposed kindness of the fae? The promise of adventure, the type she's on right now trying to save her sister from a creep who, as far as she knows, kidnapped said sister?

Freya's in very unconvincing denial about things that nobody in their right mind would actually be in denial about. Are we supposed to believe she doesn't care about her sister and just wants adventure? That she's convincing herself the goblins are evil to have a righteous thing to war against, to make herself a hero in her own story, and Esther's kidnapping is just an excuse to go on a quest? I think that angle would've worked, and there's hints of that in the book, but it's clearly not the point. Mostly it's Freya's bigotry we're supposed to dislike about her, and her wanting to be a hero is painted as a good thing she's repressing.

Now, I'm not saying that bigotry is somehow justified if the people you're bigoted against "prove" that they're as bad as you think they are. Nor am I saying that it's on them to prove you wrong. But this is a book, and Freya unlearning these things needs to be shown convincingly to the reader. Here, the fae are in obvious positions of power over Freya throughout and several of them attempt to kill her, yet her reacting negatively to this is painted as irrational? Why purposefully write cruel and threatening fae and then punish your character for thinking they're cruel and threatening? It doesn't make any sense.

The fae: We stole your sister and you need to do a bunch of dangerous shit to get her back. Also, a bunch of us will drug you, dehumanize you, insult and belittle you, and generally treat you like disposable garbage. The one guy who doesn't hate your guts is in charge of all of us.

Freya: Hmm ... Yeah that matches what I know about you. Kinda shitty tbh.

The fae: Omg how racist! Open your heart to how great we are!

In the end, Freya wins, but we're meant to dislike that. Because Freya winning means the Gabba Babba loses, and he's correct about everything always, just like Esther. The narrative tells us Freya is wrong, Esther tells Freya she's wrong, the Gorblo Borblo tells Freya she's wrong. You just end up reading about this poor woman who's gaslit into being the villain by everyone around her, and she ends up blaming herself when shit goes to hell, and then Esther is the one who's like "it wasn't your fault uwu" and I'm not sure if we're meant to agree?

Freya somehow ends up being the butt monkey of the entire book despite also being the most interesting human ever (according to the Gebble Pebble) and having the easiest epic quest of all time. She's a bigot but we never see her get any reason to unlearn said bigotry, but she's still punished for her beliefs, ones she got from her dead parents and never had reason to question. Her love interest tells us she's the most fascinating human he's ever met (and he's met millions, despite being a thousand years old? That's a lot of humans for a guy who mostly seems to live on non-human soil) despite her never doing anything extraordinary.

This is a very confusing read. I'm leaving two stars because it baffled me more than it infuriated me, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're really desperate for lukewarm goblin content. On that note, let's talk about Stolen Goblin Bride and the way these two books together open up a well of wack-ass worldbuilding.

First of all, the events in this book do not match up with the events in Goblin Bride. Lux "kidnaps" Esther in that one, but here, she says she went willingly. The Gobbo Shobbo also distinctly helps Lux kidnap Esther, all while claiming he didn't, and that goblins don't do that. Here, it's also established that only children go out to the human world to sell their wares (???), but in Goblin Bride, there were named characters who were clearly adults. Lux himself can't be a child, either. Assuming he's not much older than Esther's 16, and also that he lives and travels alone and owns a home, he's probably around that same age. That does not make him a child. It seems like the author just retroactively made those goblins kids in order to make Freya look even worse. We also find out that the King Gob is well-loved by his people, despite there being a bunch of starving people that Lux has to personally feed on the king's orders? Man must have one hell of a propaganda team. We also don't really know, generally, what sort of world Esther and Freya come from? They talk about being peasants and living in a small village, but at some point Freya mentions a zoo? Huh??? And again, why are the goblins sending their kids to trade with humans that hate and fear them? What kind of sense does that make? Goblin Bride establishes that they trade mainly with nobles, but this book outright says that human nobles left Freya's village centuries ago. Why are the goblins still sending their kids to remote human villages?

All in all, it's a shambles of a book. Nothing really works, and the protagonist seems to be punished for existing, a pawn in a heavy-handed moral that doesn't really work at all. The characters are bland amalgamations of tropes, the worldbuilding is wacky and nonsensical in a bad way, and the plot has the integrity of string cheese. There are tiny glimpses of a vision, of a goal in there somewhere, that might be enough to please some, but I don't know if I'm masochistic or mean enough to pick up the rest of the series.

[missielynne]

Hi! Challenging you to name your truly unpopular Bridgerton opinions :) A few of mine: 1. On the Way to the Wedding is my special favorite of the books (it's funny, it doesn't attempt to tackle the kind of more serious issues like depression that JQ tends to do really badly---see Marina---, it has something resembling an actual plot, I think Lucy and Gregory are examples of opposites who complement each other perfectly, Gregory is actually the sweetest and least problematic Bridgerton male imo and I love that he's a funloving romantic instead of a brooding jerk or a sexist rake, and it's just fluffy and mood lifting and fun!) 2. Anthony is fine as a character, but he would be absolute hell to live with/be married to in real life 3. Netflix series Kate was way too elegant, polished, poised and perfect---Book Kate, based loosely on the Taming of the Shrew, was more interesting 4. The show did Simon and Daphne such a disservice---Simon is not some smooth charming rake, the entire point of his character is that his stutter and the emotional neglect/abuse from his father prevented him from even talking to people, so he's actually a very introverted loner and his connection with Daphne is meaningful because she's the only person he can speak and open up to! And Daphne isn't the diamond of the first whatever, she's actually feared to be "on the shelf", an average girl who everyone likes well enough but guys see as just a buddy and no one views as special--until Simon! Instead, the show has them like the bitchy, cool popular kids at school lol. 5. Other than Eloise and Gregory, I always like the significant others much more than I like the Bridgertons themselves. 6. Hyanincth comes off like a borderline sociopath to me and is so insufferably arrogant---I liked Gareth well enough and the dash of mystery in their story but can't stand her! 7. Overall, I like JQ's Smythe-Smith series better than Bridgerton 8. Benedict is so gross and terrible in his book and not even a remotely interesting or compelling character. Sophie is generic too in a kind but flatly flawless way these romance heroines sometimes are, but I wish she would have told him to get lost. 9. I just will never believe that Colin loves Penelope as much as he loves him, and I think Show Colin is really poorly cast and written so far--he's so supposed to be so charismatic and naturally charming but comes off as so stiff and flat! Okay, thanks for listening to me, and I can't wait to read yours!

I did not like on the way to the wedding and wasn't able to finish it. I don't know if it's that I don't connect to Gregory and Lucy as characters or what, but they just came off really bland to me.

I think Simon and Daphne are the worst regardless of version

My favorite couple and book are Philoise and To Sir Philip With Love because every other couple is some level of stereotypical romance to me, and I don't really connect emotionally with any of them. (Along with Michael and Francesca who are my second favorites. I basically like the least known/least popular couples in Bridgerton the most.)

I don't like or need Marina in any Bridgerton medium. She just basically makes the books much sadder than they need to be with the poorly handled details of the character (agree with you on that) and in the show, I don't think increasing her presence (whether it's because a WOC was cast to play her or whatever reason) justifies how much she's in the story, especially if they have to stick to a Philoise endgame for contractual reasons. (aside from all the misery her character brings to TSPWL, if you took her out and just did a throwaway line that she died with no more detail and just let Philip, Eloise, and the twins have the story, it would be a hilarious thing cause it is.)

I am a fan of An Offer From a Gentleman (although I totally see what you mean about how Sophie can be flat as an example of a very generic, well-worn trope, and sometimes her stubbornness when we know that she and Benedict are gonna end up together anyway can be a bit annoying.) If she's gonna be independent and against marriage, etc to the point where she brings it up every five minutes, yeah...she should have been allowed to be alone a la Genevieve

Lots of people won't like me for this but...I find Colin and Penelope (as a couple) to be underwhelming in any universe, which is why, even though it made sense when they explained why the third Bridgerton show season had been switched to Colin and Pen, I was frustrated. I totally think that the show should have let Pen Ladywhistledown herself into an awesome businesswoman life and just let Colin do something else. (especially after all the time the show wasting shoving the stuff with Penelope's family in to fill time, thus taking attention away from Anthony and Kate when it's their fricking story. Season two had me drowning in Featheringtons and now with Colin and Pen's story next, I don't let a reprieve when I sorely need one.)

I am so happy that I am not the only one who didn't like Netflix Series Kate. Although Simone played her well and I've got nothing against her as an actress, I felt like her casting turned the character (and the ship as a whole) into a half-hearted Bollywood P&P not the story I was promised, which was really irritating). Book Kate is one of my loves and I just...what they did to the character in the show was just underwhelming, although people who enjoyed it for the representation it provided, more power to you.

In general, I think the Netflix versions write their original characters better than when they're trying to adapt what JQ wrote (especially since their attempts to address stuff like racism and feminism come off heavy-handed and clumsy to the point where it feels like the writers either don't realize they're writing something that isn't new and just sticking whatever they want in the story to appeal to social justice or whatever doesn't work, or they're scared of the stories themselves and should have just left them alone if they feel they can't put them out there without completely rebuilding them first.

Based on the amount of filler season two had to have so that everyone cast could have a role (see my complaint about the Featheringtons above) I feel like the it would have been better to adapt each book into like, a mini series or eight movies so they wouldn't HAVE to worry about having to account for so many people and every story could tell the story it's suppose to tell without getting distracted cause people need paychecks.

[makingspiritualityreal]

Hey there!! I hope your having a good day, I have a question abt having two planets in the same sign but not conjunct in synastry for example my moons the same sign as this guys Venus I was wondering if that would be similar to a conjunct since it’s the same sign.

Conjunctions in Synastry

Yes and No.

No, because degrees and Lunar Mansions matter. If you also do Vedic Astrology and learn about the Nakshatras, you will know about the importance of Lunar Mansions. The closest synastry aspect is when one person's planetary position conjuncts the other person's position in the same sign in the same Nakshatra (some Nakshatras cover 2 zodiac signs, making the conjunction weaker if it's out of sign). My partner's Jupiter is conjunct my North Node in synastry, and even though the planets are 12 degrees apart, because it's the same sign and the same Nakshatra it is one of our strongest synastry aspects.

Yes, because of the natural order of house cusps determined by the Ascendant Sign. So even if the conjunction is far off, his Venus will still fall in the same house as your Moon, effectively influencing and stimulating this house for you whenever you're around him. Think of it as Planets being living entities still sharing the same house with someone, even if you live on different floors. In comparison, a close conjunction is more like sharing a bed with someone, yet still in either scenario you live together.

Depending on your Rising Signs as synastry partners, that can have varying results. If your Natal planet is already in a difficult house (6, 8, 12 especially), since birth you develop a coping mechanism using your Natal Planet to deal with that house. For example, I use solitude and spiritual practice, learning and teaching to cope with my South Node and Jupiter activating 12th and 8th houses. Whenever I had someone with a close conjunction sitting on any of these placements, initially it felt like a disturbance of the natural way I deal with these energies. However, that kind of synastry can actually be motivating. Was the way you were coping healthy to begin with? In Synastry, the energy of a person mastering their own chart better "wins" aka it should be preserved, and not allowed to be exposed at a detriment of the other party struggling to master their chart more. It all depends on how you respond to the challenge. I can tell you that I owe it to both my previous and current relationship that I dared to come out with my spiritual and astrology skills more, since my partners "awakened" my south node and Jupiter through our synastry even when we were still just friends. Naturally, the knowledge and the skill is mine, and the decision and willpower to take up the challenge and take a risk to go against my past habits is mine, my actions are mine, but this was the Universe "poking me" out of my survivalist mentality with my 2nd house North Node.

The most difficult synastry aspect is when you don't have any natal planets in Dushtana houses and you meet someone whose planets fall in these houses for you. That is basically you being forced to take on someone else's negative energy. It's the definition of you feeling like "it's not your problem"...because quite literally it isn't, karmically. You have different challenges in this lifetime, or you would have had this aspect, natally.

Maybe that's harsh of me, but my piece of advice is to avoid people who have malefic planets hitting in your houses 6, 8, 12 relative to your ascendant, IF you don't have anything there natally. That is going to differ based on your Rising. For me as a Libra Lagna (sidereal) it's anyone with Pisces placements, because I have none there myself. My ex had 2 malefics, and my parent their Sun sitting there and OH BOY. It was heavy down to ruining my physical health. I can't blame them for having that in their chart, because for them this is the karma they deal with in this lifetime, so it's not even their fault, but it's just going to drag your life down...when you already have your own problems and your own karma that's heavy enough, and other karmic relationships that you're gonna meet on your way. Run as fast as you can, and remember it's all relative, and blaming the other person or trying to get them to change who they are in your perception won't help. Someone with a different Ascendant may view them in a completely different light and feel good in their presence. They're just not for you...unless you like to suffer extra lol.